SAVE ME

THIRTY

The entire house was filled with people, all of them celebrating the release of Madison's ep. Rook had challenged her to a drinking contest, the winner receiving one hundred dollars and the right to gloat about it.

Madison was on her fourth cup of vodka and cranberry juice, she was buzzed but not quite drunk yet. "I miss this side of you. It's something I haven't seen in a long time." Rook told her with a fond smile on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"You look happy. I haven't seen a real smile on your face in a couple years now."

Madison didn't know what to say to that. She didn't mean to lose herself these past couple of years, it just kind of happened on it's own. She didn't know it until now that she was hurting the ones around her that she loved.

"I'm sorry, Rookie. I'm trying to be myself again. It's just so hard to let go of what i'm going through."

"Hey." He stepped closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her in for a hug. "At least you're trying. That's all that matters. Most people who go through it don't."

She rested her head against his shoulder and brought her cup to her lips, chugging the remains of her drink. "I appreciate you having so much faith in me, Rook. That means a lot to me."

She pressed a soft kiss to his cheek before she pulled away from his hold to head into the kitchen to grab another drink. "You're still going to lose the bet. Don't think that i'm going to go easy on you just because you're nice to me."

"You better not go easy on me! You're better than that." She let out a light laugh before she placed her cup on the kitchen counter and grabbed a bottle of vodka.

Before she could even pour it, she felt a hand wrap around the bottle right under hers. "Here, I got it. Vodka and cranberry, right?"

"Um, yeah." She mumbled, her eyes slowly widening when she realized how familiar the voice was. She quickly turned to face them, a bright grin appearing on her lips. "Dom!"

He put the bottle down once she jumped into his arms and wrapped her limbs around him like a koala. He hid his face in her shoulder and squeezed her small frame tightly.

"I missed you so much."

"I missed you too. What are you doing here?"

He pulled away to look up at her with a mischievous grin, his teeth grasping his bottom lip gently to keep himself from laughing. "I wanted to surprise you. Who did you think was going to look after you while your brother went on tour?"

She was slightly pissed that her brother kept this information from her, but slightly surprised that he was able to. He was horrible at keeping secrets.

Rook was in the doorway of the kitchen, watching the two of them closely. He wasn't trying to be weird, he was observing how happy Madison was when she was around Dom. She looked genuinely happy and that alone made him feel less worried about her.

When he locked eyes with Dom, he lifted his cup and smiled in his direction before he turned to head back to the party. "I need my drink. I'm kind of in the middle of a bet with Rook."

"Oh, yeah?" Dom had an amused smile on his lips as he turned to make her drink for her. "What kind of bet?"

"I told him he was too short to handle as much alcohol as I could. He told me he could drink me under the table." She reached out to take the cup from him and brought it to her lips to take a small sip.

"This is going to be the easiest hundred bucks I have ever made." Dom couldn't help but laugh at her as he made himself a drink.

"I have no doubt that you will win, love. Just don't get so drunk that you can't stand on your own."

"Oh, no. That will be Rook, not me." She was giggling again like a small child, the alcohol taking over her mind a little more than before. "I will end up having to help him to his bed."

By the end of the night, Madison was still standing on her feet. She was completely drunk, but hadn't passed out or lost the ability to stand.

Rook on the other hand was stretched out in the middle of the living room, singing along to a song when there wasn't even music playing anymore.

He was so drunk he couldn't even get up. Madison had won the bet and she couldn't wait to nag him about it tomorrow. "Come on, Rookie. It's time to go to bed."

Madison was slurring her words, trying to tug on his hand that wasn't holding a bottle to get him up to his feet.

She lost her balance when she got him halfway up and fell onto the floor next to him, both of them falling into a fit of laughter. "Rook, you idiot, you have to go to bed!"

"So do you! Just leave me here, i'm having a blast!" Madison struggled to get up to her feet before she turned to face the boys who were on the couch, too numb from the alcohol to even pay attention to them.

She let out a deep sigh before she grabbed onto Rook's ankles and began dragging him, with much difficulty, to the stairs.

She hooked her arms underneath his and began pulling him up the stairs to the bedroom. It took a lot longer than she wanted it to. Rook was heavy for such a short person.

"You're fucking heavy. Where do you put all this weight?" She could tell by the smirk on his lips that he was about to say something inappropriate. "Nevermind, forget that I said anything."

Once she got him into his room, she helped him into bed and pulled off his shoes before pulling the covers over his body. "Goodnight, Rookie. I love you."

"Night, Mads. Thank you. I love you too."